Alan Keyes on Foreign Policy

Republican challenger for IL Senate; previously Candidate for President

Work with indigenous elements in Iran

In order to defend Americans from death, you do what you have to do. In the meantime, you take advantage of those mechanisms that will allow you to address the problem without necessarily committing the nation to war. And that includes, by the way,
a strategy that will work with indigenous elements in Iran in order to promote an alternative to the government there that would be more compatible with international and regional peace and security, more respectful of human rights.

Source: IL Senate Debate, Illinois Radio Network
Oct 12, 2004

Renounce interference with affairs of other nations

I would want to renounce the idea that we have the right to interfere, in an aggressive way, with the affairs of other nations. I think we can play a constructive role in trying to bring about diplomatic solutions in different parts of the world,
but I do not believe that when our ideas are rejected, we should resort to war in order to force people to accept a deal that's dictated on our terms.

Routine military intervention is wrong

Q: When do you think the US should become involved in militarily around the world? A: We need to end the Clinton policy of interventionism on behalf of all kinds of globalist interests that are of not direct relevance to our values.
Kosovo was an example. We ought to avoid interventions that are based on propaganda. We’ve got to send a message to the world, that we will not be stepping in to intervene in the affairs of other countries on any kind of routine basis.

Source: GOP Debate on the Larry King Show
Feb 15, 2000

Panama Canal: Keep US in; keep China Out

Keyes says the Panama Canal treaty was a “stupid mistake” and that he would take steps to return the canal to US control if elected. Last month, the US turned control of the canal over to Panama as called for under a 1977 treaty, which Keyes said he did
not support. Keyes believes the Chinese could be seeking ways to control the waterway. “We’re in a situation now where it would be folly to wait until the Communist Chinese get some kind of entrenched foothold in Panama.”

Source: Boston Globe, p. A20
Jan 14, 2000

Africa: No money for AIDS, because money won’t cure AIDS

Q: Should we appropriate $300 million out of the surplus to help fight AIDS in Africa? A: The premise of your question [is that we] measure compassion is by how much money we’re going to
throw at some problem, regardless of whether the problem is susceptible to being dealt with by all the money. After all, asking whether we should spend $300 million to cure an incurable disease is kind of an academic point, and you should realize that.

Source: GOP Debate in Michigan
Jan 10, 2000

Against paying UN until they reform

Q: Do you think our reasons for withholding payment from the UN are valid? A: I do think they’re valid. To try to get the United Nations to reform its wasteful practices, reform its opposition to the free enterprise approaches that could
actually help countries around the world to develop, we withheld those dollars. And I’d continue to withhold them today because the organization has not responded, it has not reformed. And I think it until it does, we ought to stand firm in our position.

Source: Republican Debate at Dartmouth College
Oct 29, 1999

Fostered policy of withholding UN funds; UN wastes US taxes

I’ll take the blame for [withholding UN funding], because I was one of those people in the Reagan administration who helped foster that policy. We withheld our contributions because it is an organization that takes our money, tosses it down the rathole
of UN waste, and puts our money into the pockets of the rich people in developing countries. [Paying the UN gives US taxes] to international bureaucrats who are basically interested in doing nothing but maintaining their own comfort and security.

Source: Republican Debate at Dartmouth College
Oct 29, 1999

Call to account those responsible for Chinese espionage

I cannot understand how any American can be complacent about [Chinese espionage detailed in the Cox Report]. We will be struggling to deal with the consequences of this devastating blow for the next 20 and 30 years. And yet many Americans are still just
sitting and watching. We should have a deep sense of outrage, and our political leaders should call to account those who have been on watch. God help us if we accept a week or two of public hand-wringing over the Cox Report as an adequate response.

Source: WorldNetDaily “GOP folds on Chinagate”
May 28, 1999

If the UN undermines US sovereignty, we should quit.

Some American politicians have been so corrupted by internationalism that they will not resist the temptation to erect the United Nations into a supra-national entity that undermines our sovereignty. Should it prove impossible to fight this tendency
by other means, the United States would have to withdraw from the United Nations, while clearly maintaining our ongoing commitment to our international responsibilities as a sovereign nation and world leader.

South Africa: Venture capital instead of foreign aid

Foreign aid is everybody’s favorite whipping boy, which makes you wonder how it has managed to survive for so long. One reason may be that we all have our exceptions to the general anti-foreign aid bias. I confess that South Africa would be high
on my list of favorite exceptions. But then I realize what a disservice we will do to South Africa’s people, particularly her black people, if we continue to think of them as victims.

Standard foreign aid projects, funneling money government-to-
government through inefficient bureaucracies and political networks, will end up consuming millions while wasting South Africa’s most valuable resource. South Africa needs venture capital, the kind you get from corporations rather than
governments. The people who spent so much time and effort getting investors to pull out of South Africa [on anti-apartheid platforms] need to organize just as massively for them to go back in.

Source: Our Character, Our Future, p. 93-5
May 2, 1996

Rwanda: Humanitarian grounds 150x more than in Bosnia

Q: Do you support President Clinton’s Bosnia policy? A: No. Every single argument that was raised with respect to Bosnia on humanitarian grounds applied over 150 times to Rwanda, and we sat on our hands and did nothing. Why do we need to send 20,000
troops to Bosnia when all those European countries can do the same job we can? Our neighboorhood is our neighborhood.

Source: Interview with USA Today
Jan 23, 1996

Alan Keyes on China

Clarifying commitment to Taiwan avoids Chinese attack

Q: What would you do if Taiwan declared independence, & the Chinese began to fire missiles?A: We have to make clear to the Chinese that we intend to make good on our pledges to safeguard the security of Taiwan. A move like that wouldn’t happen without
a preceding crisis, in which I would have demonstrated, through the placement of our forces, that we intended to make good on our commitment. To avoid that eventuality, we should stop sending confusing signals about our resolve with respect to Taiwan.

Source: New Hampshire GOP Debates
Dec 3, 1999

Military intervention to ensure Taiwan’s self-determination

I would put in place the kind of anti-missile defenses that can be extended as an umbrella to protect Taiwan when they come under threats [from China]. Self-determination, allowing people to decide their own destiny, has been fundamental to American
foreign policy for decades. We should certainly stand for it where the Taiwanese are concerned. We should make it clear that any [attack by] the Communist Chinese would, in fact, mean a military confrontation with the United States.

Source: New Hampshire GOP Debates
Dec 3, 1999

China is an egregious abuser of human life and human rights

The Beijing women’s conference is a travesty. The venue is bad, since the Chinese government continues to be an egregious abuser of human life and human rights. The document is bad since it includes many of the culture of death priorities of the Clintons
(abortion, condom distribution, assaults on motherhood, etc.).